1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to raised floor access panels. In particular it relates to a method for retrofitting a raised access floor system with a universal interchangeable floor panel having leveling, lifting or locking devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Raised floors are commonly used to create a space between a sub-floor and the normal working environment of a room. The sub-floor is the surface that would serve as the floor of a data center prior to installation of a raised access floor. The space between the sub-floor and the raised access floor is used to contain electrical wiring and fiber optic cables, to contain an air plenum chase, and more generally to contain anything that must be in a room but is more safely or conveniently enclosed in an area apart from the main area of the data center room.
Although the primary purpose of a panel is to structurally support an applied load, they must also be easily and safely removed and re-inserted. This is required for the relocation of work cubicles, equipment, wiring, cabling and air flow disbursement to appropriate heat load designs.
When operating, data centers generate a great deal of revenue. Thus, it is very costly to shut down an entire facility, for months, in order to replace an entire floor system, with an entirely new system, having matching panels, pedestals and stringers due to the variance in specifications of different manufacturers. In dealing with this ever-growing-problem, what is needed is an adjustable raised floor panel which would be compatible with previously installed pedestal and stringer systems so that floor panel replacement can be performed on a panel-by-panel basis rather than to completely re-build the entire facility from the subfloor up. This concept would thereby save the industry an enormous amount of cost and time.
Thus, what is needed is a universal retro-fit raised access floor panel having an integral leveling mechanism so that it is capable of horizontal alignment with an existing raised access floor without changes to the existing pedestal support system and stringer matrix. It follows that the leveling mechanism should be operable through an opening in the panel top in order to level the floor vertically, up or down, in order to thereby eliminate the need to adjust each of the pedestal support members, or, more likely, the entire access floor. Moreover, because replacement floor systems are increasingly using perforated floor panels, in order to address heat build-up, it is desirable to provide an integrated lifting device for the safe removal and re-insertion of panels if so desired. The present invention satisfies these needs.